Here’s the reading list from last year:
1) Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell – This book came highly recommended by some friends. While I found the structure intriguing, I had a hard time understanding it. But I might just be dumb.
2) The Life of the Skies by Jonathan Rosen – A book about birdwatching. It’s better than it sounds, but not super awesome.
3) Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell – per usual, completely fascinating stuff.
4) Tales of Unease by Arthur Conan Doyle – short stories, nothing too memorable.
5) In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O’Brien – I wrote my senior paper on O’Brien but hadn’t read this book. It was haunting and great.
6) The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch – I’m ashamed to say I don’t remember this one much, but I know it was inspirational at the time.
7) Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris – hilarious book. reminded me of Office Space and my life. loved it.
8) Thunderstruck by Erik Larson – interesting book about the invention of radio. I got turned on to Larson when I read Devil in the White City a couple years ago which was also great.
9) Purple Cow by Seth Godin – a business book about being remarkable. Godin is good at writing for people like me that don’t know much about business but want to.
10) The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber – another book about business. This one was inspiring and I will re-read it in the near future.
11) Upstart Start-ups by Ron Lieber – a third business book in a row. I must have been in a phase. This one was more forgettable though it did include a few good stories like the invention of magnetic poetry and the story of Geek Squad which was started here in MN.
12) Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot – read this one again in preparation for our wedding. We used a few lines from it during the ceremony.
13) Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larson – another Larson book. This one about the devastating Galveston hurricane of 1900 as well as the development of meteorology.
14) Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore – this one was an inspiration and just makes you want to be a better person.
15) The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett – read this one on our honeymoon because it was set in San Francisco. A pretty good little mystery.
16) East of Eden by John Steinbeck – Best Book I’ve Read in a Long Time. Can’t recommend highly enough.
17) The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown – Finished the two books I brought on the honeymoon, so I bought this at the airport and read it in 2 days. Entertaining, but I liked Angels and Demons more.
18) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak – didn’t really connect with this story about a girl in WWII Germany.
19) The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver – Loved, Loved, Loved. Read this one because I went to see Kingsolver in November.
20) Think, Write and Retire by Mani Sivasubramanian – not really worth my time.
21) The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski – you’ll like this one if you like dogs.
22) Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice – with all the buzz about Twilight; and Bird and I watching Buffy, thought I’d check out an earlier Vampire tale. It was pretty good.
23) The Dip by Seth Godin – a little business book about quitting and when you should give up.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice assortment (that goes for your 2008 list, too). Coincidentally enough, I just read “The Story of Edgar Sawtelle” for my book group. You’re certainly right about the dogs – they’re almost like a Greek chorus in the book. The only other ones I’ve read are “Outliers” and “East of Eden.” I read “The Vampire LeStat” instead of “Interview” and decided I didn’t care so much for the vampire genre. I read “Twilight” last month, and sure enough, I still don’t care for that genre. I agree with your assessment of “East of Eden” – certainly one of Steinbeck’s best.
My book group is now reading Marilynne Robinson’s “Home,” and we read “Gilead” last year. Have you read either of those, by any chance?
Thanks for the array of books. Looking forwarded to reading many of them.
@ Lola – I’ve read Gilead and I went and saw Marilynne Robinson do a reading of Home a couple years ago. I liked Gilead just ok, but my wife LOVED it. I don’t think she’s read Home yet. Let us know how you like it.